Sezarious said:
Can I ask where luck comes in?
It doesn’t actually come from d20 Modern. It kinda serves as a replacement for Action Points and is a safety net since combat could be quite deadly.
[sblock=Luck]Luck rolls are called for when chance is all that stands between two paths for the story to take, or immediately after a failed success roll to give a character that one last chance... Another use for luck is to settle minor questions which have little bearing on the story, such as whether a character happens to be wearing a hairpin or carrying a lighter (since we will not be strictly tracking every little piece of gear/equipment).
Luck can be a character’s best friend. If he makes his luck roll he can save himself after a particularly dismal die roll, a feature which allows for a certain heroic confidence when entering dangerous scenes.
Luck rolls are identical to basic success rolls in how they work: the GM sets a target number (TN) and if you roll equal to it or under, you succeed. Default TN is 6 unless otherwise specified.
Trading Luck
There comes a scene in a character’s life when he’s hit bottom, when the situation has become so grave that nothing short of a miracle can save him now. In these cases, the luck trait allows one final recourse to turn the story back into his favor...
If such a case occurs where you’ve failed a luck roll that was really important, you may at that moment choose to “trade” some of your permanent luck to change the roll to a success. This choice causes your luck trait to lose a permanent rung on the competency ladder (until d30), but at least your character is still alive and kicking.
Trading your luck in this way can keep your character alive and on top of things for quite a while, but remember, everyone’s luck has to run out sometime...
Luck Roll Example:
The Ogrean were everywhere. Laerd continued hacking into the fray as he watched Ryla cross the perilous catwalk to safety. “I’m going to run across as fast as I can,” he said.
“That’s not so easy, Laerd,” warned the GM. “Make an agility save, target of 3.” Laerd was in the militia and had great balance (D8). He spun and dashed across the beam. The die was tossed: a 7. “Aye!!” Laerd’s foot came out from under him. Ryla screamed as she watched him fall and splash into the freezing water below...
“Make a luck save, Laerd,” said the GM ominously, “and you better not miss this one...”
He hit the water hard. He felt the icy embrace as he was swept along. At least he was a little more lucky than the average person (D10). He rolled: a 7. A target hadn’t been specified, so he needed a 6 or less...
The Storyteller raised an eyebrow. “The cold is sapping your strength. From above and behind you think you hear Ryla screaming your name. You fight madly with the waves, but the rushing stream is so painfully cold. You gasp in water... you try to cough...”
“Okay, okay. I’m gonna trade a luck rung,” said Laerd defeatedly.
“Alright,” responded the GM, “your hand reaches out of the water and catches on a rock. Laerd, your luck is now down to average (D12).”
Laerd climbed coughing onto the shore, then collapsed, exhausted.[/sblock]
Sezarious said:
1d20 - Horseback Riding (includes handle animal for horses)
1d12 - Gather Information (Includes Research) (-3 points)
1d12 - Knowledge Arcane Lore (Will Have by Chapter 1) (-3 points)
1d10 - Profession - Actor (-7 points)
1d12 - Persuasion (Includes bluff, Diplomacy and Negotiation) (-3 points
1d8 - Spellcraft (Will Have by Chapter 1) (-12 points)
1d12 - Stealth (-3 points)
1d12 - Treat injury (-5 points)
1d8 - Archaic Weapons Skill (-12 points)
1d10 - Firearms Weapon Skill (-7 points)
Since you will get more points to cover character advancement to Chapter 1, you might want to take some of those points away from Spell Craft. You dropped the Magic Trait which you need cast spells anyway. I would do this:
d10 Magic Trait (7 pts)
d12 Spellcraft (5 pts) (saving 2 pts to work towards d10)
You can also take Spell Slots for some 1st Level spells since you are investing in Spellcraft already. You can pull 1st level spells from whatever d20 list you want (d20 Modern/D&D 3.5ed/Pathfinder).
Took a stab at my skills.
Trying to keep to my core competencies, but fairly balanced across those. By my count that leaves about 4 points unspent, which may be spent on other skills or whatever.
Right now the Tricked out vehicle is below average, so you could put more points there. When it comes down to the mechanics, we will probably define the vehicle like I would an animal companion. It will have its own stats and can be improved.
Power (Strength), Handling (Agility), Condition (Health):
Distribute d20, d12, & d10 to those Traits, each a different value. Every point Evan spends on his Tricked Out Vehicle can be transferred to directly improve those three Traits.
Pick 4 Special Features that we can define as skills to start at d20, then use 21 points to improve/acquire more.
During the game there will be opportunities to improve add more features as well.
Evasion: this may be encompassed in agility / acrobatics. But leaping out of the way of explosions is basically what Evan DOES.
Two-weapon Fighting / Ambidexterity: He doesn't really know anything about guns at this point, but ultimately his dream could be summed up in the movie Hot Fuzz.
I defined these down below. Two-Weapon fighting would just be unlocking a second attack and ambidexterity would be investing in it to reach the same level of competency as the primary attack.
Re: Talents/Feats (we are going to treat these the same for the most part)
Empathy: would just be investing in the Skills directly and not needed to unlock any talents
Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Far Shot & Deadly Aim: are all just investing in Firearms Skill directly
Intuition: would be reflected with Luck and Perception checks
Windfall: would just be investing in the Profession Skill directly
Attentive: would just be investing in Perception Trait directly
Lucky: Included as part of Luck Trait
Magical Affinity: would just be investing in Spellcraft Skill directly
Magic Defense: That would be a special power, but not available to your characters at this time
Shot on the Run: is unnecessary as a special power since anyone can do this
Skip Shot: Can be taken as a Special Power at d20
Weapon Finesse: would just be investing in the Combat Skills directly
Weapon Focus: would just be investing in the Combat Skills directly
Magical Heritage: This is Spellcraft Skill combined with Magic Trait
I have defined the following Talents/Feats as Special Powers that you can purchase with points:
[sblock=Coordinate or Improved Aid Another]
Talent for coordinating efforts of others d20 (3 pts)
* Use 1x/day per rung below d30 (d20=1)
* Allies within 30 feet can improve rung on skill checks (max of d10) if situation makes sense to aid another.
* Improving to d12, allows improving skills to max of d8[/sblock] [sblock=Jack of All trades]
Talent as a jack of all trades d20 (3 pts)
* Can make all Craft skill checks untrained at current level
* Can be improved to d12 only[/sblock][sblock=Tactical Planning]
Talent for tactical planning d20 (3 pts)
* Unlocks using Knowledge of Tactics to increase Skills of others 1 Rung (max d10) during an encounter for 1-3 rounds depending on level of success on Tactics Check (1-2=3 rnds/3-4=2 rnds/5-6=1 rnd).
* Improved to d12, durations double
* Improved to d10, allows improving skills to max d8[/sblock] [sblock=Exploit Weakness]
Talent for exploiting weaknesses in foes d20 (3 pts)
* Use 1x/day at d30, 2x/day at d12, 4x/day at d10, 10x/day at d8, 16x/day at d6
* Improve rung on Combat Skill checks (max of d10) and effective damage
* Duration = 1 round squared per rung below d30: d20 = 1 round, d12 = 4 rounds, d10 = 9 rounds, d8 = 16 rounds.
* Improved to d10, allows improving skills to max d8
* Improved to d6, allows improving skill to max d6[/sblock][sblock=Trick]Talent for being Tricky d20 (3 pts)
* Unlocks using Persuasion to play a trick on a target, opposed check versus target’s Perception Trait.
* If the Persuasion check succeeds, the target cannot act for 1 round.[/sblock][sblock=Armor]Armor Proficiency d30 (untrained) – Default skill allows you to use light armor that can be used without the d20 ACP applying.
Better light armor needs Armor Proficiency d20->d8 to use shields and heavier armors. Effectively d8 means being able to use Full Platemail and a big shield.[/sblock][sblock=Double Tap]
Double Tap d20 (3 pts)
* Can take 1 rung penalty on Fire arms skill to fire two bullets to potentially double damage on a hit.[/sblock][sblock=Evasion]Evasion (Requires: Acrobatics) d20 (3 pts)
* When checking to evade area attacks with Agility for taking only half damage, allows no damage on success. Substitute for Agility on defense against area attacks if better than Agility.
* Unlocks Improved Evasion once reaching d8, allows taking only half damage on failed Evasion checks.[/sblock][sblock=Additional Attacks]Secondary Attack d20
* Allows an additional attack per round at current rung, either with the same weapon in hand or carrying two weapons.[/sblock]
[MENTION=2486]Al[/MENTION]l; Re: Armor proficiency
This is probably a good idea for everyone to consider when we improve characters to start Chapter 1.